rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

We have a music festival this summer with the theme "lost in Latin America" which features British ppl doing 'Mexican wrestling' and tonnes of Day Of The Dead iconography as 'fancy dress' but very, very little in the way of irl Latin American artists on the lineup.

http://www.standon-calling.com/line-up

The Cuban Brothers, Mayans, The Menendez Brothers and Venezuelan Alien have no direct connection to the region, afaict.

Wait, the Menendez brothers playing at music festivals now?

tbf every town has its white-kids-play-the-music-of-other-cultures-really-shittily band scene

I'm generally ok with that, tbh, as it generally indicates a level of engagement that goes beyond dress up and cultural stereotypes. If a bunch of kids in Rotherham want to form a calypso band, more power to them. The whole festival appearing to be themed around a cartoon version of Latin culture sits less well with me.

Could learn from http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/25/canadian-festival-bans-native-american-style-headdresses

that is awesome, hope coachella is paying attention

Wait, the Menendez brothers playing at music festivals now?

― ed.b

Haha. "We'd like to dedicate this next one to our parents, for making it all possible."

someone just wished me happy eid even though i am not a muslim! the nerve of some people!!!

j/k

Wish this would catch on elsewhere.

Was at a festival in HK in December and saw plenty of headdresses worn by European expats. I found that most European students I met just didn't "get it" and fet that N. America was overly sensitive about contemporary forms of racism.

http://f1.bcbits.com/img/a3662428547_10.jpg

We've finally moved on from "I'm big in Japan"

wtf is that even

something that needs a NSFW flag for those of us with images off

This isn't a very well-written article but the comments say so much about white pushback at any suggestion that anything white people do short of blackface (and maybe not even that) is even a teensy bit racist.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/04/katy-perry-avril-lavigne-pop-culture-peddling-racism?CMP=twt_gu&commentpage=1

Was at a festival in HK in December and saw plenty of headdresses worn by European expats. I found that most European students I met just didn't "get it" and fet that N. America was overly sensitive about contemporary forms of racism.

― Eggs and the marketing board behind them, Monday, July 28, 2014 3:23 PM (1 week ago)

something might be said about the difference between that sort of appropriation by white americans and by, well ... by anyone else. i have the sense that a great many people don't see cultural appropriation as a terribly offensive thing in itself, in isolation, lederhosen donned by non bavarians or whatever. appropriated by whom and to what end is where things get sticky. we object most passionately when the privileged cruelly mock or thoughtlessly adopt the identity of those they oppress; therefore white americans in blackface, native american ceremonial garb, etc. europeans might understandably see themselves as operating at a substantial remove from all that.

^ maybe replace that "understandably" w/ "rightly or wrongly", perspective involved, chains of responsibilty

huh that's a read on that divide that had never occurred to me. thoughtful.

I would usually put this in the Race '14 thread since there's no question about this one, but it's germane to the conversation, I guess.

You'll have to excuse me though, I can't ever remember if it's the Mirror or the Mail that's always taking the piss.

A mayonnaise factory manager has quit his job – to live as a NATIVE AMERICAN.

He might not quite be sitting bull, but Les Atkins is going to follow his dreams and tour the country teaching people about the Native American way of life.

The 65-year-old from Walsall, West Midlands retired from his job on July 31 after 15 years of service - but now plans to spend his days dressed as his alter-ego Native American.

I won't repost the pix, but you can find them at the link.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/mayonnaise-factory-manager-gives-up-3986921

That Low Country Kingdom thing is fascinating

'White, military people have crashed (?) and now are underwater (but also in a burning city) surrounded by dangerous but admiring non-white mermaids, the white men maintain their composure'

Seems to have nothing to do with China though?

sketchfactor "has a reporting mechanism for racial profiling," so it's got that going for it.

I downloaded Sketchfactor and 99% of the entries are trolling, and some are really funny

Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors [Started by Charlie Rose (Charlie Rose) in September 2003, last updated 51 seconds ago by Jazzbo on I Love Music] 6 new answers

what do u think of the word 'jazzbo'

2 US archaic A person, especially a black man.

Here are names of some toys that will make many reader squinch: Jazzbo Jim, Tombo Alabama Coon Jigger, Ham and Sam, and Somstepa Coon Jigger. They certainly don't represent the finest hour of American manufacturing history.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-05-05/features/1991125223_1_black-memorabilia-jigger-jazzbo

I had never heard that meaning of jazzbo before! Had always taken it to mean geeks with sick chops.

note that it doesnt say it is derogatory in itself, just that any 'neutral' word for 'a person, especially a black man' in early 20th c america will inevitably carry the value inferences of its age

I always thought jazzbo was a beatnik term--like a white dude grooving to a Charlie Parker set

2 US archaic A person, especially a black man.

that brief definition is provided by oxfordictionaries.com without any etymological support, not that i question their scholarship. i'm curious about this usage, though, as it's new to me. i wonder whether the word was ever really in common use in this extremely generic sense. perhaps the mention simply reflects the tendency of racist whites to turn anything associated with black culture into a hateful epithet?

http://i.imgur.com/QGAn8IU.jpg

this is selling for $1900 on ebay

sick mouthy should be looking to expect around £25,000 for his mint condition ronaldinho bottle opener in 50 years time

can i still call jazz guys "cats"?

only if you're talking about the ownership of their bases

does the name of the toy describe the character as a musician (playing banjo, "dancer"), or is it simply generic? and is there any clear difference between the two, given popular racist notions regarding "natural" aptitudes?

asking because i don't think that the tendency of racists to use the language of black culture in a hateful manner should be granted the power to render the language racist. suppose it's a question of degree.

Someone should ask a Black person.

[nods sagely]

Albert Richard "Jazzbo" Collins (born January 4, 1919, Rochester, New York[1] — d. September 30, 1997, Marin County, California) was an American disc jockey, radio personality and recording artist who was briefly the host of NBC television's Tonight show in 1957.

The name "Jazzbo" derived from a product Collins had seen, a clip-on bowtie named Jazzbows.

Let's ask Prince Jazzbo.

http://dublab.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jazzbo.jpeg

Except he's dead. What about another DJ, Jazzbo Collins?

http://cover7.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/52/1054352.jpg

A popular segment on his show was the "no stinkin' badges" routine. Al would politely request the main guest for that day don a Mexican bandit costume, complete with ammo belts crossing the chest, six-guns in holsters, a huge sombrero and large fake mustache. The guest then had to pose in front of cameras and for the TV audience. With pistols pointing at the camera lens the guest had to say (with emphasis) "I don't got to show you no stinkin' badges." If the guest did not say it with sufficient sinister tone Collins made him or her repeat it until in Al's opinion the guest got it right.

But he's dead too.

also from al "jazzbo"'s wikipedia page:

A popular segment on his show was the "no stinkin' badges" routine. Al would politely request the main guest for that day don a Mexican bandit costume, complete with ammo belts crossing the chest, six-guns in holsters, a huge sombrero and large fake mustache. The guest then had to pose in front of cameras and for the TV audience. With pistols pointing at the camera lens the guest had to say (with emphasis) "I don't got to show you no stinkin' badges." If the guest did not say it with sufficient sinister tone Collins made him or her repeat it until in Al's opinion the guest got it right.

oh sorry for the repeat post. you've got to be quick on this site.

in any event, at least one jazzbo, we know, was racist

Oof. My dad has a few Al "Jazzbo" Collins 78s that he played for me when I was a kid, and I remember them as being hilarious, but no idea if they hold up. That's some seriously fucked-up shit about his tv show, though.

Elvis Costello gets Stroppy with Aging Jazzbo

apparently, it was once thought by some that the genre's appellation descended from a musician named "jazzbo"

that's according to this site, anyway

the word "jazz" comes from "jasm", which meant semen but also was used to denote vitality and energy. this according to an art history professor from college.

All this jazzbo talk, I was about to make a witty remark about the Hasbro toy company.

But wait. Remember when "bro" was more of an African American reference, soul brother 70s street "jive" talk, etc?

Now it's more about frat boys and white people who surprise each other with bottles of Smirnoff Ice. Hasbro indeed.

Most of the music's innovators -- Ellington, Miles, Mingus, Monk, many others -- hated the term "jazz," which they (rightly) saw as limiting and demeaning at best.

Elvis Costello gets Stroppy with Aging Jazzbo

― lars von (Treeship), Wednesday, August 27, 2014 10:16 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^fuck elvis i just picked up a gary peacock/mal waldren record at a garage sale, dude rules

who'd have thought a racial slur would be mentioned in conjunction with elvis costello